Definition of Status:

Alain De Botton:

– One’s position in society; the word derived from the Latin statum or standing (past participle of the verb stare, to stand).

– In a narrow sense, the word refers to one’s legal or professional standing within a group (married, a lieutenant, etc.). But in the broader – and here more relevant – sense, to one’s value and importance in the eyes of the world.

– Different societies have awarded status to different groups: hunters, fighters, ancient families, priests, knights, fecund women. Increasingly, since 1776, status in the West (the vague but comprehensible territory under discussion) has been awarded in relation to financial achievement.

– The consequences of high status are pleasant. They include resources, freedom, space, comfort, time and, as importantly perhaps, a sense of being cared for and thought valuable – conveyed through invitations, flattery, laughter (even when the joke lacks bite), deference and attention.

– High status is thought by many (but freely admitted by few) to be one of the finest of earthly goods.